A POPULAR Irish M&S branch is set to close today in a major blow to customers.
M&S in Drogheda will close its doors for the last time this evening – with 57 job losses.
Staff were informed of the planned closure just weeks ago.
M&S bosses said they will support affected staff through the closure.
The Drogheda store’s sales performance was “behind the rest of our store estate”.
Country Director Ireland & Northern Ireland Eddie Murphy said: “M&S is committed to Ireland and we have ambitious plans for growth including doubling the number of Irish-based suppliers we work with.
“Our recent Christmas trading figures show we’re heading in the right direction.
“However, we also need to modernise our business to safeguard what we have achieved.
“Shopping habits are changing, and we are shaping our store estate to focus our investment on the right stores in the right places.
“We have made the tough decision to close our Drogheda store because the shopping centre has low occupancy – requiring significant investment – and its sales performance is behind the rest of our store estate.
“We’ve shared this news with affected colleagues today and our priority now is to support them through these changes.
“We understand there will be some disappointment with our announcement, but we believe that this decision is the right one for the future of M&S in Ireland – allowing us to invest in our store estate, expand our Irish supply base and continue to build our partnership with Applegreen, whilst offering our customers exceptional value, quality, service and innovation.”
This comes after The Body Shop closed all seven branches of their stores in Ireland after “years of unprofitability”.
Several staff across five stores in the Republic are still owed thousands of euro worth of wages after the company closed up shop.
And Sinn Féin spokesperson on enterprise, trade, and employment, Louise O’Reilly TD has called on The Body Shop to adhere to employment law.
Branding the treatment of staff as “nothing short of disgraceful,” O’Reilly urged the brand to pay staff any money owed, and honour the 30-day statutory consultation period before implementing redundancies.
She said the treatment of employees “looks like a possible flouting of Irish employment law” and said the decision to close Irish operations last week has “cast staff into a financial and employment limbo”.
The TD added: “The decision by the company to close its Irish operations last week has cast staff into a financial and employment limbo.
“Workers are owed several weeks wages and holiday pay, yet the company has stated they will not be paid.
“Nor has the company adhered to the 30-day notice period for collective redundancies.
“The failure to pay workers monies owed, and the failure to honour the 30-day statutory consultation period before the implementation of the redundancies, is what looks like a possible flouting of Irish employment law.”
O’Reilly urged government intervention and said the workers should be prioritised in this situation.
